Saving gas by putting tailgate down

[Stelth]

I recently drove from Florida to Tennessee and back.  On the way I saw a lot of pick-ups on the highway with their tailgate down.  Ostensibly to save gas.  I saw a Mythbusters episode which did an experiment about this practice and the results were counter-intuitive...the truck with the gate UP got BETTER mileage.  They said the gate being up created a vortex that actually made the truck more aerodynamic.  They used 2 identical F150's and the gate-down truck ran out of gas first.  Just thought those that missed this and are travelling would want to know.

[Patrick T]

I tried to find that episode on youtube but was unsuccessful. I've seen it a couple times and remember it as you say. The only real inprovement was with a specific bed cover.

Patrick

[Stelth]

Coincidentally, I have a tonneau cover on my F-150 but I noticed no real improvement in mileage.  Of course, I never drove really far before I had it so it probably isn't noticable in city driving.

[foxracer72]

i saw that episode to, i see people all the time driving with there tailgate down.

[alphazulu]

i saw that episode to, i see people all the time driving with there tailgate down.


they probably don't have cable :D

[Smith357]

I saw that episode but in their test they used a 4 door short bed truck, I wonder if there would be a difference in the vortex formation with a 2 door long bed?